Wakatoshi Ushijima
is a third year at Shiratorizawa Academy and the captain and ace of the school's boys' volleyball team. Currently, he is the number one ace in the Miyagi Prefecture and one of the country's top three aces, along with Sakusa and Kiryu. Appearance He has dark olive-brown hair and matching dark olive eyes. Ushijima usually has a stoic expression on his face and often appears rather intimidating. He has a large, muscular yet lean build and is very tall. His representative team uniform is a sports jacket, gray on the sides but black on the middle. On his left chest is a small nametag with Japan and the Japanese flag. Personality Ushijima doesn’t speak often, but when he does, he bluntly says what's on his mind and usually comes off as tactless. He will apologize if he realizes that he has insulted someone, but he won't change his viewpoint. Ushijima is confident of his own abilities and does not think anyone (at least, in the Miyagi prefecture) can defeat him, though he thoroughly enjoys being challenged. Ushijima hates baseless self-confidence, which is the main reason why he dislikes Hinata, who is confident about beating Shiratorizawa despite being short and from a formerly unknown team. However, Ushijima's teammate Tendō seems to think Ushijima doesn't like Hinata because the latter is too unpredictable, which is something Ushijima hasn't experienced before. Statistics Ushijima's body is in excellent physical condition. During the 5th set of the finals with Karasuno High, his last few spikes were even more powerful than before. His teammates usually can’t keep up with him in their jogging sessions. He is also one of the few players who are left-handed, allowing his firepower to be at the highest caliber. Being left-handed is also one of his greatest weapons, as teams adjust to do "right hand" blocks and receives. It has also been stated that a cross spike is likely to be his forte. His spikes are based on pure strength, and since he's left-handed, they have a different ball rotation from right-handed players. This skill causes his opponents to have trouble receiving or blocking his attacks. He can also spike from a very high point due to his height, combined with his powerful jumping ability. However, at the same time, Ushijima's techniques stay the same throughout most matches, allowing his opponents to get used to them and find ways to counterattack. He has a strong jump serve that can truly pressure his opponents. To a receiver, he doesn't seem to hit the ball hard due to the short contact time with the ball. It also appears that Ushijima is also adept at passing, seeing as he was forced to receive one of Hinata's quick hits. His hang time is impressive as well, but he bases it on timing the blocker's early jump. Late game adjustments Late in the fourth set against Karasuno, he performed a "touch-spike" since the Karasuno blockers created a huge gap on his left front side of the court, after dealing with his powerful spikes for so long. He also performed a touch-serve that scratched the top of the net and the front end of the opponent's zone. He also performed a slice-spike, where the spiker's thumb faces more to the blockers, so the ball hits more to his left rather than right at Nishinoya, directly opposite him deep in the opponent's right back corner. Trivia *Favorite Food: hayashi rice *Current Concern: None. * He has commonly been referred to as "Ushiwaka", mostly likely because of the "Ushi" in Ushijima and "Waka" in Wakatoshi. His nickname "Ushiwaka", is the child name of the Japanese Genji Warrior, Minamoto Yoshitsune, who was also known to have extreme jumping abilities. * He is one of the few characters in the series who are left-handed. ** His birthday, August 13, is International Left Handers' Day. * He is one of the three most noticed high school volleyball players in the nation, and he is the only player selected from Tohoku to participate in the Youth World Championship as Japan's under 19 volleyball representativeChapter 76Season 2, Episode 25). * He reads all of the ads in magazines.Chapter 210 * He dislikes things that he doesn't understand, or that give him the feeling of "not knowing what he's going to do", like Hinata.Chapter 176 * His star sign is Leo. * He shares his birthday with Takanobu Aone. *'Nomenclature' **Wakatoshi (若利) - Young Advantage '' **Ushijima (牛島) - ''Cow Island References }} Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Shiratorizawa Academy Volleyball Club Category:Captains Category:Wing Spikers Category:3rd Year Category:Ace Category:3rd place ace pf Japan